It’s been almost a year since our last vacation and let’s just say I was long overdue for a break. I’ve been mentally and physically spent. We decided to go where we’ve never been, which is Winter Park, CO. We have never seen such white, powdery snow before, it was beautiful! We rode the train from Denver into Winter Park and it was a great way to see the mountains and start our vacation. Our first day in Winter Park, we got the lay of the land and how the shuttle buses worked. We decided to take the bus to Fraser, CO to go tubing. We trekked our way up to the Historical Fraser Tubing Hill to find out that they do NOT accept credit cards. Who in tarnation does not accept credit cards in 2011? We did notice another tubing company below the hill, so before continuing our trek, I decided to give them a call to see if they accept credit cards and luckily they did. As we were walking down the hill, we decided to stop on the side of the road and make snow angels. Once we were checked-in for tubing and fitted for our helmets, we grabbed a tube and headed to the conveyor belt to send us up. There were a total of 4 hills we could choose from, easy to most difficult. We started with the easy hill just to see what we’d gotten ourselves in and boy was it fun. What we forgot were our goggles because we had snow kick-up all over our faces. We were tubing for an hour and my legs were beat. We were fortunate enough to get a lift into town to grab a bite to eat and head to the local Safeway for groceries for the week.

The next day we had plans to head to Winter Park Resort to try our hands on snow biking. It’s supposed to be best for first timers on the slopes. The hardest thing I couldn’t get over is the slipping and sliding part. My mind kept saying stop but I knew that it’s supposed to work that way. After a couple runs on the bunny slopes, the teacher decided to take us one lift higher to test our skills. Before heading up, we were getting ready to take the lift up. But something was stuck, my bike got stuck on the lift, which dragged me down and dropped the bike onto my legs. The next thing I remember was looking up and seeing the other bikes overhead and hoping that they didn’t drop them on me. Luckily, I was alright but I was told that what happened to me happens very infrequently. It was an amazing view from up top. We were ready to go. But after a few runs down, I suddenly became fatigued. Each ride down, I just continued to fall down. I fell into the powder. I slipped into the tree lines. I just ate it a lot! When I finally got back down to the bunny slope, I was thankful and glad to be close to the bottom. Even though we did not receive our licenses to ride by ourselves, we still had a great time. Now it was time to get back home and rest our legs. Thankfully my hubby did all the cooking while I iced my knees and took it easy. Once I was ready to shower, I noticed the large bruise on my thigh from the bike. Bumps and bruises, I’m still glad I went up the hill and tried it.

For the next day, Phi tried his hand at snowboarding while I took a day for pampering. It was much needed to since my legs were beat! As I said my goodbyes to my hubby, I was off for my spa treatment, The Mary Jane. It was the best 2 1/2 hours of pampering and so much deserved. The hubby made sure he put on his wedding ring so “snow bunnies wouldn’t hit on him.” His words, not mine.

For our last day in Winter Park, we went to Fossil Ridge Guide for our private sleigh ride. Luckily they were able to accommodate us and it was gorgeous. The horses were beautiful and the views were spectacular. We stopped at a campfire for some hot cocoa. It was so peaceful and serene, we didn’t want to leave.

This trip was what we needed. The hubby’s been stressed at work and I’ve been suffering from a creative block. Hopefully, this is what we needed to unwind us. Here are some pictures on flickr, enjoy!